I'm not a very good blogger am I?

Oh dear! It's been ages...

I do have some pretty good reasons though.  Hubby and I went to the North Island of New Zealand for nearly three weeks in November/December.  We had such a wonderful time - it is an absolutely beautiful spot and there's lots to see and do.  It is so hard to pick a highlight, but the Bay of Islands and Wellington were fantastic.  Around the same time last year we did the South Island and loved it.  It is a bit more dramatic in terms of scenery and it's not as populated as the North Island. As it turns out my paternal Great Grandmother was born in Ngaparra, near Dunedin - such a pretty spot!

Sadly, the week before we left, my aunt was killed in a car accident.  She was my Mum's youngest sister and she was a much loved wife, mum and friend. It was such a terrible shock.  She was only 63 and was an avid family historian. Hold your loved ones close - you don't know how long you'll have them for xxxx

Then we had the usual turmoil of the Christmas/New Year period.  Hubby's family live up north in Port Macquarie so we made the trek up there for a couple of days before Christmas.  It's always great to catch up with all of them - he has 2 sisters and 2 brothers and they all have their own families.  His Mum lives up there too - she's the best Mother-in-Law anyone could want!!

And now we're all back to relative normality.  I've been trying to be a bit more organised around the house but I'm not always successful - with 3 males in the mix I think I'm fighting a losing battle!  My next project is to clean out and re-organise my kitchen cupboards - we'll see how that one goes!

Tomorrow I'm heading to my Mum's to help her organise her computer.  She has an old PC which is starting to play up and a laptop which is much easier for her to use.  Now she's looking at an iPad so that she can show clients photos of her cakes a bit more efficiently.  It's going to be a big job - she has sooooo many photos!

Anyway, that's a quick catch-up for now.  I'm at work at the moment but things are verrrry quiet, having just sent out two large reports!

Cheers for now
Kathleen

Floriade and Pretty Jewellery Storage

I'm backtracking here a little, sorry!  Back at the beginning of October I spent a long weekend in Canberra with a wonderful group of friends.  We visited Floriade which was absolutely beautiful. If I had to choose any talent, apart from singing, it would be a green thumb.  Unfortunately I can't carry a tune in a basket and I'm phobic about bugs and critters, especially eight legged ones, that can be found in the garden.  Sad, but I love to hear and see other people's efforts.

Aren't they gorgeous?! All with flowers. I took this one from the ferris wheel - it was the only elevated vantage point unfortunately, and it was reeeeaaally cold!

Just beautiful!  This is the first time I've been to Floriade but I'm hoping to get back again in future.

Anyway, another of our days out was a visit to the Old Bus Depot Markets.  Well worth a visit with so much to look at and to buy.  I found this gorgeous stand for my jewellery.

So pretty! I just couldn't resist. The idea is so simple and so practical.  Here it is with some of my stuff on it.

Needless to say it has lots more on it now! Don't you just love finding such pretty and useful stuff!  They had other things too like tiered cake stands and they also do what look like lovely high teas.  I don't think they have a web site but they're on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SwishVintageCanberra.  

It's always great to visit Canberra!

Cheers for now

Kathleen

Post Party Pics

So Saturday came and went!  We had a wonderful day.  The weather was kind - no rain and only a bit of wind.  Our family gatherings are always held on the big front verandah at Mum's, so we pushed three long tables together to accommodate the adults and the kids were out the back so they could make as much noise as they liked.

I managed to get everything setup as I wanted it.

Here's the runner I created.  It's just black wrapping paper with an organza ribbon down the middle and some punched flowers.  We scattered some gold "50s" just so she couldn't forget how old she is!  I made the favours using cupcake holders I bought at a local homeware store and added black and red liquorice and then put them into cellophane bags which I tied with red ribbon and a tag with people's names on them. 

This is the finished table - not a very good photo but you get the idea.

Mum's gorgeous cake!

Here's most of my mad family and a few ring-ins! Margie is the one sitting behind the cake (in the black top).  I'm the eldest of 6.  I have 4 sisters and one brother (the youngest), who was unable to join us but will be down from Queensland for Christmas.  Can't wait!

So that's it.  We have two years before our next 50th so plenty of time to plan!

Cheers for now

Kathleen

Happy 50th Margie!

So much for trying to post once a week!  Never mind.  I have been very busy.  My lovely sister Margie is 50 next week and we're planning a celebration at our Mum's home a few minutes from where I live.  Margie livers on the other side of the beautiful Blue Mountains with her family.  Three wonderful kids, two big boys and an adorable little girl.

The theme is red (her favourite colour) and black.  My Mum is a cake decorator so she's handling the cake with a big red shoe on it!  Margie looooves shoes! Mum is also doing all the food - she likes to be in control, bless her.  The only thing she ever asks the rest of us to do is organise the tables.  So I'm in charge of that!  A black runner with wide red ribbon down the middle and red flowers all over it.  Some pretty tea lights and red and black favours.  Still have a little bit of shopping to do....

I wanted to do something special.  So I decided to create a banner.  I've never made one of these before so I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.  I bought some red and black fabric and a patterned fabric to make the letters out of.  The pennants were cut out with pinking shears.  Then I cut the letters out of the patterned fabric and used fusing web to attach them to the pennants.  Here is the result.

Now I need to make a card for her.  I found a fantastic website called http://www.tagxedo.com.  It allows you to create word clouds.  This is what I've made.

Fabulous isn't it! I'm going to try and adjust the colours a bit but I am delighted with the result!

I'll post further pics after Saturday's party so you can see how it all turns out.

Cheers for now

Kathleen

Soooo, I've started a blog....

I guess I should introduce myself.  My name is Kathleen, I live in the lovely southern suburbs of Sydney and my life is pretty hectic as it is for so many of us! I've been married for three decades and have two grown sons who are a joy to be around (most of the time).  I work part time editing reports for a small company.  It's a bit dull but it helps pays the bills.
 
What I really like to do - love to do actually - is make cards.  I would do this full time if I could, but that's life.  My passion for paper is getting somewhat out of control.  I work in a small corner of our back room on an old kitchen table that belonged to my grandparents.  The actual space in which I work seems to shrink by the day as I keep adding tools and supplies.  But that's not going to stop me.  I'll post pics of my space soon.

In the meantime, here a just a few pics of my latest projects.  I prefer a clean, sharp look to my cards but occasionally I'll stray into a more embellished look.

I'm more than happy to purchase new materials but where I can make my own I will.  This card is made using tissue wrapping paper on double sided tape - looks just like Washi Tape.  It's not removable of course but it doesn't need to be.

As with any crafter, I have quite a stash of papers and other items, the origins of which are lost to time.  I make an effort every now and then to reduce my stash.  However, as we all know, it still seems to grow!

These papers were bought years ago in a bookbinding shop somewhere in Victoria.  I particularly love the marbelled paper.  I had a go at marbelling myself a long time ago. It is quite an art but you can create such gorgeous designs.

This card is made with decorative tapes that came free with a magazine.  I love the delicate flowers offset by the gingham and measuring tape.

I drew the wavy shape on this one and cut it out.  The paper is from a paper pad that was free with a magazine.  I've used a 1/2" (1.27cm) circle punch to create the scalloped edge.  I first saw Kristina Werner at kwernerdesign.com use this technique on one of her fabulous cards.

I love Kaisercraft's products! They always have such wonderful stamps and papers. I've used their "Sears and Son" 6x6 paper pack and stamp set to create this one.  The jute ribbon adds to the masculine feel.

This is another attempt to decrease by stash.  I really like the splash of colour on the white background.  The stamp is from the Stampin' up "It's All Good" set.

This one took me ages! I used Hero Arts "Flower Burst" background stamped in black.  I then stamped it in orange, cut out the elements I wanted and then mounted them on foam tape.

Anyway, that's a start. I hope to blog at lease once a week but we'll see how I go.

Cheers for now
Kathleen